[Pharcyde]

It seems like you view "Pump It Up" as a flop or simply a bad song, and that the song is Budden's standard fare. I think you gotta take that song for what it was: a club banger (one that got him a Grammy nod in '03). I urge you to check out any of his "Mood Muzik" mixtapes to get a real sense of how talented of an artist he is.

Having said that, great choice in "Hip Hop is Dead". I didn't really feel it the first time I listened to it, but it really grew on me after a couple more times through. "Blunt Ashes" is my favorite track. It's like a somber, somewhat haunting, funk song; the perfect cut for sparking a dutch in the booth and airing out whatever's on your mind at the time.

John F. Kennedy's
Enemies
Dealt with treachery.
It interests me.
Judy Campbell
In Gucci sandals,
She's what a temptress be.
The death of Ennis Cosby,
What a mystery.
Or the Chicagoan
Harold Washington,
Someone is sabotagin' him.

If only I now had in my possession some of what he was smoking when he laid this down...